She's gone...

We are so sad that Emmy is gone...

But we are SO HAPPY that she came to visit us!

It made for a really fun weekend...with a VERY happy Elsie!

After Emmy left, we were getting ready for church and Elsie said to me that she gets to see Emmy at church.

I told her no, that Emmy had to go home.
She didn't believe me.

But she was fine when we got to church and Emmy wasn't there...
Thanks, Emmy, so much for taking the time to come see our little family.

We all have a special place in our hearts for you.

We LOVE you Emmy!

Go Boise!

They did it again!!!

Of course!

We couldn't get it on TV cause we don;t have the channel it was on...

But thanks to Dussy Boy, he found a place we could watch it online!!!

Thanks man!

Speaking of Dussy Boy...

I believe you made and LOST a bet.

So I am publicly asking you to prove your loyalty to the Broncos and send us a picture of you wearing your Orange and Blue!

Worms!

We are lucky enough to have some new great neighbors move in behind us.

It has been a rental since we moved in our house...so it is so nice to finally have someone there for good!

Well, it happens that this new neighbor works for Jaykers, a tree wholesaler.

This weekend he invited us to a friends and family special where you could go pick a tree, any tree, any size, for $75!!!

Great deal, right???

Well, we had a couple spots that needed replacing...

Like the peach tree....

And the dead tree from the dumb nursery that tore the root ball off....

So we went out there this morning to pick out a couple trees.

I got one that sells for $500...for $75!

You can't get much better than that, right?

Well, Brent is working...

I had the trees delivered here...

And I started to dig the holes for the tree, to save my hubby some work when he gets home.

And that is when they found the WORMS!

I think they gathered about 35 worms.

They made, in Cassi's words, a 'Habitat' for the worms.

It kept them busy, and NOT FIGHTING for quite a while!

Porter was a little unsure...but he still held one.

Elsie didn't really want anything to do with them.

She would look at them, but didn't want to get too close.

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Porter had a hard time figuring out the wheel barrel.

First he tried to grab if from behind and lift it...which was pretty funny.

I think he figured out that this way works better.
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I bottled 10 more jars of Grape juice today...

I also have about 30ish cups waiting to be turned into grape jelly...

I am thinking it would make great neighbor Christmas gifts!

We 'heart' pizza...

We made some home-made pizza tonight.

YUMMY!

And to make it even better...(and to get Elsie to east it)...I made them into heart pizza's.

It was a big hit and I pretty sure I won't be allowed to make home-made ROUND pizza's ever again!

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It is so great to have Emmy here.

Yes, my kids go to her when they are sad instead of me...

But I sure love how much they love her.

There is nothing else that lights Elsie up as much as her Emmy...well, Strip might have her tied...

As long as she has those two...she is a very happy girl!

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My mom sent some grapes down with Emily.

So today we juiced and canned grape juice all day.

I plan to make some grape jelly tomorrow.

It really is kinda fun and addicting!

Thanks, Mom, for all the grapes!

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She's HERE!!!

After all the waiting..she is FINALLY here!!!

Elsie has talked about this at school non-stop...her teachers wrote a little note to me telling us to have a fun weekend with Emmy!

Elsie went to school again, happy as can be.

She had a great day...

Emmy came around 3:30 and she has been by Emmy's side ever since.

They played with horses...Elsie raced back and forth...played with Playdoh.

It is gonna be a fun weekend!

We all LOVE Emmy!

Porter made it through the night again last night.

I think he cried for just over a half hour.

So maybe 15 min. tonight...

And then we are scott free....all done with crying through the night.
Right?

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I also canned some pears today.

It is a very rewarding thing to can your own food.

I love hearing those tops seal!

I did it...

I let THIS little boy...

Cry the night away.

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This boy is spoiled by his Mommy dear.

I know it.

I am aware that my adorable rotten boy is ADORABLY ROTTEN!

But two nights ago...he ruined our midnight dates.

I LOVE to have a little cuddle with him in the middle of the night.

Yes, I know it is my fault that he still gets up.

Well...two nights ago...he was up...he stayed up...he was goofy and wired, and didn't want cuddling...and wouldn't go back to sleep.

I wanted sleep.

So I made an executive decision.

No more seeing me during the night.

I have tried to let him cry himself back to sleep before...but it just breaks my heart to hear him calling my name in such a sad little voice.

But I think he made me mad enough two nights ago, that it helped me through last night.

That is when I made him cry himself back to sleep.

It took an hour....

It was a sad hour.

Yes, I wanted to hold him and cuddle him...but in my head I thought...

"It is either an hour of him crying himself back to sleep and I go back to sleep, or I get up and down and up and down for 2-3 hours."

I thought the one hour was a better option.

I plan to let it happen again tonight.

I hope he gets the hang of it and just DOESN'T wake up.

I am sure that will happen.

Cause really, what almost 2 year old doesn't sleep through the night???
So it is about time.

And he still loved me this morning after I made him cry himself to sleep.

So I am sure he will continue to love me if I make him do it again tonight, right?

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Elsie went to school and again and had an awesome time.

She cried for just a minute when she got there...but had a great day and even came home on the bus.

And she loved that!

And she came home and had another sweet card in the mail from Grandma Na and Papa P.

She was very excited.

She is a big fan of getting stuff in the mail.

Thanks to everyone for spoiling her while she was recovering.

It really helped us a lot!

The kiddos

This is what life is all about.

Even when they keep us up all night...

Even when they fight us tooth and nail over everything...

Even when they say I am the meanest Mom in the world...

Even though they are my own little tornadoes...

Even though they fight...all the time...

Even after all that and more...

I couldn't ask for better kids.

They are so unique...it is so funny to see four completely different people come from the same family!

Each of them bring smiles to our faces...

And we would do anything for them...

We really were blessed to have these guys in our little family.

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Elsie went to all of school by herself today!!!!

YAY!

Miss. Jenny said she cried for about 15 minutes...but then they started talking about Strip and she got happy.

And she was great the rest of the day.

I think I am gonna try to send her HOME on the bus tomorrow.
We will wait to send her to school on the bus until next week.

Baby steps...

She seems to be adjusting well.

She came home and had some down time while Porter napped.

She was definitely VERY tired.

I hope she sleeps great tonight!

Porter, on the other hand was up ALL night!

I don't know is going on!

Ear infections again?

Maybe his two year molars coming in???

I don't know...all I know is that he needs sleep, cause I need sleep!
The big girl go home and Madi went right to Activity days and Cassi had guitar.

Madi is excited about starting activity days again...with new friends and new leaders.

Cassi is learning a new song on the guitar...Frère Jacques

(The tune to 'Are you sleeping' or 'Where is thumbkin')

She is very excited and it is a bit more complicated cause she is moving between three different strings.

Up until now she has stayed on one single string for the songs.

So she is excited, and I am excited for her to learn more and more!!!

Elsie went to SCHOOL!!!

Look who went to school today!!!

She was very excited as we drove there...

Very excited to see her friends and teachers...

Very excited to go to the library...

Not so excited when I tried to leave her.

I stayed in the parking lot and told them to call me if she didn't calm down.

Well, they called...worried she was gonna throw-up, and that was what I didn't want to happen.

So I went back, and I played some more...did circle time with them and then I went with her for her Physical Therapy...that was fun to watch her...

We went back to class and did some more stuff.

I knew she was getting tired, so I asked if she was ready to go home.

She was ready and went to grab the backpack...then she saw the Capri Suns...and that means SNACK TIME!!!

So she said she wanted to stay for snacks, and I told her I would come get her after snacks and she was totally fine with that.

YAY!!!

So I came home and fit a run in before I went back to get her.

She was so happy!

She loves everyone there.

I hope it goes well tomorrow.

I don't think we will try the bus until next week!!!

Way to go Elsie!!!

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We got to go out to eat tonight with rich uncle Scotty!!!

Okay, he isn't our uncle...but he should be.

Scott is the one who moved my Annie all the way to Minnesota...so I am still bitter towards him, but dinner helped a little.

Thanks Scott for taking us out...

But really, just bring Annie back!!!

Sunday Bike Ride

This afternoon we decided to take a little stroll.

It was a nice afternoon, and we needed to get out of the house.

Everyone did good besides the occasional grab at Elsie from Porter.

And Cassi wanting to squat (to go potty) by the side of the road.

Silly girl.

We went to the church and back, so that is a good 2 miles.

Great job kiddos.

I would love to get bikes for Brent and I.

Then we would need something for Porter and Elsie...but I couldn't have something where they were together...that wouldn't go so well.

So maybe those baby seats on the back of Brent and I.

That would be fun.

Maybe someday.

And we even got to send pictures to Dad from the cell phone, so he could be there with us too.

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Church went pretty good.

Elsie did get exhausted and crashed when we got home.

But I think I might try school tomorrow.

I am still not totally sure yet...but I figure the teachers can call me if I need to come get her.

But then I don't want her to think that will always happen.

Oh, I don't know.

I really want to get her back to school, but I also don't want going back to be traumatic and ruin the whole year!!!

Oh, what should I do?

Sept. 11

Today is a day I will never forget.

I remember holding my brand new baby girl thinking I would never get to raise her.

I know, a bit dramatic, but I DID just have a baby, so I had every right to be dramatic.

But really, I knew life would never be the same.

And then all the emotion and pride I felt when we saw all the Firefighters running in, while everyone else was running out.

That is what they do, they save people.

Brent and I have read and heard many stories of people who were saved by those Firefighters who lost their own lives.

Amazing men.

That is how they are made.

Not just New York Firefighters.

Every Firefighters.
Even my very own.

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We had a pretty laid back day.

Elsie still has a rough time in the morning..but she is getting over it quicker and quicker.

Then the kids and I went to yard sales.

I think we all had a fun time.

No one even complained!

But I did learn that you can't go yard sale-ing with something that you want in mind.

Cause you won't find it.

I want a large wall clock, like about 2 ft. across.

But I don't want to pay much for it...

So that is what we looked for today.

Oh well, I just hung some paper on the wall the size of the clock I want, to 'save' the space for when I do get a clock.

I will find my good deal somewhere...

The girls have been really into riding their bikes.

It is nice for them to have something to do together that they don't fight about.

They also love riding with their new neighbor friend.

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I am gonna attempt church tomorrow with Elsie.

It will give me a good idea if she is ready to go to school on Monday or not.

We will see.